If We Were Giants

Kirra, a curious, agile, and outgoing girl, lives in an idyllic community hidden inside a dormant volcano. She and her father are the only two people allowed to venture beyond its walls. Kirra is in training to become a Storyteller like him, and together they travel from village to village spreading fearsome tales designed to keep outsiders away from their secret nest. One day, after hearing rumors of strangers called the "Takers," Kirra leaves the volcano by herself, hoping to discover her own story. But she unknowingly leads the Takers back to her doorstep, and they rob her of everything she has ever held dear. A devastated Kirra is found by a boy named Luwan and adopted into his family, which lives among others high in the trees of a dense forest. Now quiet and withdrawn, Kirra hides her dark past from everyone and never wants to leave the safety of her tree dwelling. Luwan, on the other hand, loves to explore. One day it leads to trouble: He is captured while spying on a group of strangers. The Takers have returned. To save the Tree Folk, Kirra must face her inner demons and summon all her storytelling to weave the most important tale of her life. This compelling novel about overcoming loss, embracing community, and living in harmony with nature is highlighted with a full-color insert of concept artwork, making it perfect for family sharing.

Many thanks to RockStar Book Tour and Disney-Hyperion for a finished copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

When I saw this was co-written by Dave Matthews, I figured it was a Dave Matthews, not the Dave Matthews.

It’s not often that I’m happy to be wrong, but this was definitely one of those times. In fact, if you get a chance to listen to an interview with the authors, any interview really, it’s actually a really fun and interesting backstory as to how the book came to exist. Especially considering you wouldn’t necessarily expect a fantasy book from a well-known musician. Yet, here we are. And it just works.

If We Were Giants is a gorgeous coming-of-age tale of a young girl with PTSD who learns to overcome her fear of the past to embrace the possibility of a new future. Guaranteed to unravel a few heartstrings along the way.

I was honestly expecting a little more action going into this, and there was some, but where the book really shines is the struggle and growth in the characters. The message of the story was every bit as beautiful as the world that Matthews and Smith paint. I for sure wouldn’t mind a visit there. Then again, this isn’t quite the type of book I normally I read, and Stabby McStabbyPants here would have absolutely no qualms defending my forest in a much more pointy and traditional way. Sure, not as creative as the folks in the book, but it gets the job done, just the same.

❧ I normally tend not to read author’s notes (because I’m a monster, obviously), but I’m glad I read this one. Wow, I feel seen.

What both authors have in common is that when they were children, they often explored in the woods and imagined hidden civilizations there, stumbling upon the unknown, or creating elaborate stories in their minds. In fact, in Dave Matthews’ note, as a kid in New York, he would play in the woods and imagine finding secret communities. As a child, also in New York, I did the same exact thing … except with dragons. Yes, I expected to find dragons in the woods. This should come as no surprise, really. Although why they’d be in the woods, I haven’t a clue, because forest + fire = horrible idea.

Man, I got such a rush of nostalgia just reading that note, and I want to start with that, because it’s such a universal experience, I think, as a rural or even semi-rural kid.

❧ The story opens on Kirra’s father, a storyteller, and Kirra learning to follow in his footsteps, and the narrative unfolds as Kirra finds the strength to tell her own story.

This was such a freaking powerful thing. I’ve always been a fan of this sort of structure, especially since when you come from a broken background, telling your story is freaking hard. It takes courage and strength and all sorts of things that are difficult to discover in yourself, and Kirra is no exception.

This is definitely more of a character-driven book, and the plot sometimes feels absent or takes a back seat to the character growth.

I do like how the arc turned out in the end. It was a bit slow in some places getting there, but the ride was worth it, and there was a definite payoff. It isn’t just Kirra, though. A lot of the other kids, and heck even adults, learn to find themselves along the way, and that was fabulous to see, too.

❧ This story is chock full of amazing kids doing amazing things … but most of all, being able to dream big.

Middle grade is rife with books where kids save the day, as you might expect, and this is no exception. But gosh was it so easy to root for these kids. What I loved about this is that these kids don’t have superpowers or magic or anything like that. So what do they use to save their people? Their brains. What an amazing thing.

Even more than that, the kids end up being empowered to just do the things they love, and once they embrace that, the saving the day part becomes so much easier.

I loved the message of this, especially since one of the most crucial kids to the plot is an inventor/tinkerer/engineer, and a female, which is something I feel like kids need to see more of.

❧ In this, Kirra suffers from PTSD and panic attacks, and I thought this was handled in a very thoughtful manner.

Mostly, Kirra practices avoidance, staying away from what she calls Memory Traps—things that evoke a strong reminder of her family or anything that happened previously. When she can’t avoid the Memory Traps, though, she has a major panic attack. While I have experience with neither, so I can’t really comment on how true they are to real life, I appreciated the recognition of Kirra’s trauma and her familiar avoidance patterns.

❧ There are so many poignant lessons in this that can bridge into some really important discussions with middle-grade readers.

I would even suggest it’d make for a good classroom or group read, to launch into some discussion points. The lessons in it are fairly universal, too. Here’s just a small snippet of them:

✿ Overcoming trauma
✿ The Takers (taking more than you should, from both others and nature)
✿ Community and working together
✿ Following dreams
✿ Learning to speak up
✿ Ingenuity and teamwork > brute strength
✿ Storytelling as a tool for change

As I was reading, it was just so easy to see where some amazing discussions could be had, and I was actually curious about a mid-grader’s point of view on some of the events.

❧ This is totally a me thing, but ugh, open endings in standalones drive me bonkers.

I’m a nosy little onion who wants to know what happens next, dang it. I want a clean break, especially with a standalone, since I know this will be the one and only time I get to fall into this world, and I don’t want that incessant niggling of, well, what’s next? There is no next. That’s it. You have to fill in the rest of the blanks yourself.

Some people love open endings, and if you do, this ending will work really well for you, because the implications were amazing and there’s so much that can be done with them. It’s just really not my thing.

About Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews has chronicled his life’s travels so often that when asked, he can rattle off the details without pause. It goes like this:

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1967. Moves two years later with his family to Westchester County, NY, where his dad, a physicist, goes to work for IBM. Then, in the early `70s, to Cambridge, England, before returning to New York — where his dad died in 1977. The family moved back to South Africa in 1980, where Matthews went to a few different schools and “got more wise about the evils of government, there and in general.” O.K.; pause for a breath.

The key move for Dave Matthews Band fans, of course, was when he relocated in 1986 to Charlottesville, VA, where his parents had lived before he was born. Though he also logged time back in South Africa and in Amsterdam, it was in Charlottesville where Matthews — who took piano lessons as a child before picking up the guitar at age nine — became part of the local music community and hatched the idea for his own band.

“I didn’t really have a vision, or a plan,” says Matthews, acknowledging that some of his musical sensibility came from spending time in so many different places as a child. “I’m sure it gave me a little bit of an openness. The most diverse music in the world is in America, ’cause there’s so many different cultures here, but what tends to be pushed to the top is often a narrow view of what there really is. So maybe (his travels) just gave me a wider pool of listening.”

Matthews says his principal goal with the band was to surround himself with the best players possible. To this day he remains “amazed” that he was able to recruit and retain the four musicians he rather modestly refers to as his superiors. “I was just looking for people that I liked,” explains Matthews, who feels he’s “gotten a bit better” over the years. “Could I play with them was more of the question, I think. We just ended up fitting together. The band wasn’t something that I was looking for; it was very much I loved the people I asked to play with me. There was a connection at the beginning, and I think what we’ve been about is not some grand scheme but more the spirit of everyone, which is why we ended up with this band and why it sounds like it does.”

Dave Matthews photo credit Brantley Gutierrez

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About Clete Barrett Smith

Clete Barrett Smith’s first novel for teens, Mr. 60%, will be released by Crown Books in August, 2017. Smith has also written four humorous middle grade adventures: Aliens on Vacation Alien on a Rampage, Aliens in Disguise, and Magic Delivery. Aliens on Vacation was released by Disney-Hyperion Books for Children in May, 2011 and named an American Booksellers Council “New Voices” selection as one of the top middle grade novels of the year by a debut author; and AOV was nominated for state award lists in Texas, Florida, Washington, Pennsylvania and Nebraska. A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, Clete Barrett Smith taught English, Drama and Speech at the high school level for over twenty years. Clete received his MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2010. He currently lives in Bellingham, Washington with his family.

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Three lucky winners will receive a finished copy of IF WE WERE GIANTS, US Only.

Where would you prefer to live: hidden in the caldera of a volcano or high up in the trees of a forest?